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MG MGA - MGA Values

This may be anathema to many of you guys but I am thinking (and stress only thinking) that I would love to acquire a good TC, a model that I have lusted after since school days in the late 1950's. I did own an excellent TA which I spent much time and money on and modified fitting a 5 speed box and VW steering to. With a late XPAW engine it was great fun to drive and took us all over Europe and the UK for over 35,000 miles. It was a car that my wife loved but was unable to drive due to medical reasons.

I had always loved the purity of the A and five years ago I bought a 1600 Mk 1 that had been rebuilt during the late 90s by a Garage owner in Northern Ireland and is a UK car
The car was subsequently sold following the owners death in 2007. The new owner spent a lot of time fitting a rebuilt 1622cc engine, a 5 gear box, oil cooler, changed the polarity and completely renewed the braking system. I fitted chrome w/wheels, a new hood, side screens, hood frame, tonneau cover etc. It is a brilliant car to drive and I have covered around 10k miles during that time.

So why sell it? Well I am aiming to see if I can exchange it for a good TC and will probably advertise it in the Autumn. Its no good for touring as there is no space for luggage and I would not put a rack on the back. So its a case of values the optimist ib me says 24-25k does that seem excessive?

My wife got her licence back and as mentioned was miffed about selling the TA as she was never able to drive it! She uses a YT and MGF that we are fortunate enough to own and enjoys those but has yet to try the A.

Apologies for this ramble but any thoughts are welcome!

Thanks
Jerry





Jerry Birkbeck

You should let the driving do the talking Jerry,
arrange a back to back drive of both an MGA and a TC for your wife before committing yourselves.

Compared to a TC an MGA is virtually a luxury car with loads of space to store stuff, it has reasonable weather protection, far better performance, a heater and is pretty good at keeping up with modern day traffic too.

I enjoyed driving a TC but I much prefer the MGA.

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Jerry

My first MG was a 1948 MGTC. It was something I just had to own having watched war films, the likes of Reach For The Sky etc. It was post war but still had that nostalgic fighter pilot image. I eventually sold it for a basket case MGA as I had always wanted to a ground up restoration. Would I now go back to a TC? No. i enjoy the MGA too much and it is, in my view, just that little bit more practical as an everyday car. Also, the wife did not like the lack of a heater. The driver at least had the exhaust pipe underneath for a tadge of warmth. We did do Lands End to John of Groats in it on the inaugural LEJOG rally, mid December for 3 days in zero temps with the hood down all the way, so I guess she had a point! the old girl (the car) never missed a beat.

I guess you are probably in the ball park for values; you just have to find a buyer for that price.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks Colyn and Steve

I entirely agree with your thoughts and comments. Very impressed with your escapades in Le Jog in the TC. The TA we owned had been rebuilt as a mid 30's trial car and was very basic. An accident in the centre of town at 830 am on a Sunday morning led to a rebuild and then acquiring and fitting s/hand wings, running boards etc. Eventually it sorted and was great but it was rather a bitsa car!

Undoubtedly the A is a fantastic car and very reliable. How I wish that I had fitted electronic ignition which is fitted to both the A and the YT.

Anyhow we will see and if something does turn up then who knows!. If not then so be it. At the age of 70 you have to think about fulfilling a dream. If of course I had the resources then I guess the conundrum would not have arisen.

Thanks for your advice. Lovely day for driving MGs but I am working in my daughters garden!

All the best
Jerry
Jerry Birkbeck

I also like Steve had a TC 1947 supercharged and enjoyed the car but was always a little dubious of taking it on long journeys had the car from 2000 - 2008 with an mgb roadster. I decided I wanted just one classic that I could use for long distance touring in some comfort and having always admired the MGA Coupe I sold both the TC and MGB and looked for a good MGA coupe I found my car a Mk2 Coupe original UK car in 2008 and fitted it with a 5 speed box and 123 electronic ignition WE use it regularly and have had many touring holidays in it I think nothing of doing 150 miles in a day without discomfort I would not go back to the TC !!! -The TC is an iconic looking car and has many avid followers and the T Register is an excellent source of help but for modern day driving it does not compare to the MGA
just my 2 pennorth
Paul


P D Camp

I'm 6'1 and 17 stone.
I tried to get into my friend's TC once. The video is hilarious...
A Bowie

Post your info on the TC thread. It needs more activity.
Brian
ZBMan

I entirely agree Paul the MGA is a superb car and probably the best looking of all MGs and excellent for modern traffic. However, its drawback is storage and we do use the MGs a lot for travelling. I am well aware that there are useful gizmos beyond boot racks which make up for the utter lack of space in the A. However, I have never had the wish to install a rack as in my view it utterly destroys the visual appeal and lines of the A.

Prior to acquiring the A we had a TA fitted with an XPAW engine and to which I added a 5 speed box and a VW steering box. The latter did make driving more straightforward than the knackered B/C arrangement installed in the car, which if in good condition is fine I am assured.We used the TA extensively travelling 35,000 miles across the UK and Europe between 1999 and 2011. Whilst storage was a challenge the luggage rack, which is removable adequately met our travelling needs and that included camping gear up till 2006 when I decided that I fancied a bed at night! I could well understand that easing a 6'1" and 17 stone frame into a TC was hilarious.I doubt that they had such dimensions in mind when they designed the TC, although it was 4" wider than the TA perhaps a reflection of the times!
I have always wanted a TC since the age of 10 and although I now have the storage space I dont have the wherewithall to acquire a TC and keep the A and at 70 one has to make these decisions now rather than later as you might have succumbed to the grim reaper, banned from driving, lost your faculties or whatever life may throw at you!
So I have made the decision to sell the A and go back in time. Thank you all for some superb, sobering and thoughtful advice that this bulletin has given.

All the very best
Jerry
Jerry Birkbeck

Jerry

They are certainly nice cars. Enjoy. This was mine before I sold it to make room for the A.

Steve


Steve Gyles

Worth mentioning that you might want to get hold of a copy of Mike Sherrell's "TCs Forever" before you go TC hunting. It is an excellent reference guide, a combination of Clausager for the originality aspects and an excellent restoration guide. A sort of the MGA Guru for the TC.

Steve
Steve Gyles

....and at 70 one has to make these decisions now rather than later.......

Jerry, I'm 73 and entirely agree with you, I have just gone back to a very nice 1946 TC.

Original black with black hood, although it doesn't have the double rear windows.

I still have my 'modern' 1954 MG TF but it's not a TC!

Regards, Don TF 4887 "Figaro' TC 1736 "Sibelius"


Don Walker

Thanks Steve and Don for your useful comments

I do indeed have a copy of Sherells book, Steve,which as you say is an invaluable guide to TC's. Good to see that have carried on the ethos of open top motoring as you excellently refer to you in your regular posts!

An understanding response from you Don which is much appreciated.

Sincerely
Jerry
Jerry Birkbeck

Adding my tuppence worth!! I waited some days, before adding my MG experiences --TC's and now an MG A Coupe'.
Other's comments have been interesting.
I was an apprentice Auto Mechanic in 1950, when I travelled to Techinical School with an Apprentice Tool Maker in his 3 year old Clipper Blue MG TC. Our courses were parellel. We machined up our own bronze bushes to size---learned to weld, among lots of other "manual' skills in the machine shop.
Are Apprencices trained in this way, these days?
The TC was very special in 1950. A TC had won the Australian G.P. in 1946 in the adjacent town--Bathurst.
In time-- and in the late 60's, and when business interests provided for the extravance---I just had to have an MG Hobby.
So, beginning with a couple of trailer loads of un co-ordinated rusty junk
an MG obsession commenced. It has lasted for 48 years. Yes, I am not a young guy.
Making a TC into a reliable Motor-Way carriage, requires a lot of developement. Of the 4 cars that I rebuilt--3 were sold off--the original car--also Clipper Blue " for old times sake"---provided interstate transport for over 90,000 miles. It was like grandpa's axe, however---XPAW engine---modified brakes--- inch and a half carbs., NSK steering--4.55/1 M.M. diff etc. Lots of regular up-grades
A chance with an MG A Coupe' came our way in 2007. It required a 3 year rebuild--its everything that the TC was not. Quick--secure--not as tiring on long runs--quiet--chilled with its air. cond heated by its heater--- very brisk 1800 cc engine and 5 speed gearbox--retracting seat belts---and it has not--nor likely, to ever break a crank shaft. Its Honda seats, disc. power brakes all together makes it a safe old world sports car to enjoy.
Seeking further refinement, now it uses an EFI system .
I.W. Cowen.

MGTC steering. Hmmm, that is one of the issues with those cars. They need to be set up precisely. The Bishop Cam worm and peg is not the best but plenty of other cars of the period suffered it: Austin Healeys and Daimler Darts to name but two. I modified mine with a roller race bearing under the top cover which improved it a lot. The wedge under the cross axle was also vital, I recall it being the wrong way round on some cars. Correctly set up it handles hands free, otherwise you sit there and see where the car takes you. I guess that's why those cars had big steering wheels. Something that was, in my opinion, unnecessarily handed on to the MGA with its rack and pinion. That said cross ply tyres had a tendency to follow ruts in the road so perhaps in the early days it was understandable in the A. I find a 14 inch wheel in the A gives excellent feel after you get moving. Can be a little heavy parking.

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2016 and 27/07/2016

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